Some slip in quietly with a shy smile. Others burst in with noise and excitement. Bright eyes- curious- full of full of fun and full of questions- anxious to please; who wouldn't want to work with preschoolers?

Well, yes.. they are also still working on developing that self-control, and they are still learning to play and interact well with others.

Perhaps, one of the most important things to keep in mind with preschoolers is their short attention span... and I mean short! They want to get going, doing stuff, feeling things, smelling things, tasting everything, even the play dough, and trying to make things work.

How can you present meaningful moments for busy preschoolers?
So, when it comes to planning and teaching lessons, all that bottled up energy means creating loads of short, hands-on, interactive segments that teach a Bible truth in a short amount of time. Interest tables, puzzles, setting up scenes with miniature figures, music and instruments, art and craft, blocks and construction, science with plants and animals... anything and everything that they can touch and feel and smell and listen to that will teach them a Bible truth.

That's a lot of planning
Now, I know that means a lot of organising for each lesson but it's worth it. And, you'll enjoy it, too.

But... at the end of your lesson there may be times when you have some minutes spare; maybe the pastor preaches overtime or maybe, a few parents stay back to talk or linger over coffee and they're late picking up the kids.

Don't panic!

Here's your answer.5 Minute Sunday School activities for preschoolers- Jesus shows me, by Mary J. Davis.
This book is just made for those types of situations. You'll find it overflowing with five minute ideas for Bible lessons (44 in all) ready to print and use.

What's included?
It includes activities for The Lost Sheep, the Large Catch of Fish, Jesus Calms the Storm, Jesus Heals Blind Bartimaeus and many more.

Each lesson activity provides a reproducible activity sheet to print ready to use, a list of needed supplies, instructions for preparation and a step-by-step guide for presenting the activity... plus extra suggestions for extending the activity.

What types of activities?
Sometimes they'll colour and create a small booklet. They might glue on yarn or seeds to create a a collage picture, search for hidden pictures or make a simple windsock.

Plan ahead
I would suggest preparing a few of these activities ready to use at a moment's notice. Prepare 3-4 boxes of supplies ( I used clear acrylic document cases) and replace as necessary.

Label each box. I used blackboard labels so that I could easily edit the label according to the activity I popped into the box.

Fill each box (one box per activity) with enough copies of the printed activity sheets for your group plus the instruction sheet and any other needed resources eg yarn, sequins, seeds..

Then, simply take out a box and complete the activity when you need to fill in the occasional few minutes of unexpected activity time. It's easy!

The kids will love it... and so will the parents when they arrive to find their children engaged and having fun. And you'll love knowing that, regardless of what happens, you'll have plenty of activities to keep those busy, active little people happily occupied, learning and growing.

Yesterday was a scorcher! The temperature hovered just above 34 deg Celsius and the humidity was around 80%. I checked the bags of beautiful, red, chocolate hearts that I'd recently picked up cheaply for Valentine's Day.

Sigh..... definitely soft! A melted heart is not exactly what I'd planned to use for our kidmin Valentine's Day gifts.

Why do anything for Valentine's Day?
I know that many churches and children's ministry leaders omit any reference to Valentine's Day in their programs or on their social media; and that's fine. It's certainly not a religious event or commemoration. But with the Valentine's Day focus of love, it seems a shame to miss the opportunity to shine the light on God's amazing love.

Not only is this a wonderful opportunity to encourage the kids to share God's love with others, it's also the perfect time to remind our volunteers of how much we love and appreciate their involvement in the kidmin programs.

Check outtheseideas
So, if you're considering Valentine's Day gifts for the kids to make and share with others, or perhaps making some gifts yourself to hand out to your volunteers, you might like to check out these creative ideas.

Check out these 5 kidmin Valentine's Day ideas! You'll find more information about each idea below...

1.. Valentine's Day colouring verses
This is a simple activity for kids to complete. Download the printable here. Print and hand out to the kids in your groups to colour. They can be cut to size, mounted on coloured card and handed out to their friends and family.
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2.. Mini Bible Valentine
The site claims that this is not as difficult as it looks: plus, it comes with an instructional clip. You can also download the free printable, as well as four other designs, as long as you sign up for the emails. Check out the clip below and you can find more information, as well as the printable, here.

3.. Printable Valentine's cards with Bible verses
These are lovely and I wish I'd found them sooner. They can be downloaded from the website here and printed, ready for kids to personalise and hand out to their friends. Or... buy some simple frames (like the ones I found at Kmart). Mount the printables with the frames and add a coloured card backing. Then attach a small chocolate heart as a simple gift for a friend. See my sample ones.